DILG: Restriction on hostage probe disclosures not 'gag order'

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said on Tuesday it is incorrect to label as a “gag order" Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s statement that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is the only agency authorized to speak about the hostage crisis investigation. "Wala talagang gag order. "Ang gusto lang namin mangyari ay may isang point person kasi kapag [maraming nagsasalita], masisira ang imbestigasyon. Maguguluhan lang kapag maraming chorus," he told reporters in a press conference at the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) headquarters. (What we would like to happen is there is a point person who will relay results of the investigation to avoid confusion.) De Lima on Monday barred government agencies from issuing premature disclosures on the inquiry into the August 23 hostage tragedy in Manila that left eight tourists from Hong Kong dead. Robredo said there was a "little misunderstanding" when the media construed De Lima's order as a "gag order." He explained that the restriction was only for preliminary findings of the investigation. If several people will talk about the issue publicly, this could lead to confusion, he said. He cited a police official who reportedly said in an interview that the hostage crisis probe could take a year to complete. De Lima, on the other hand, said the investigation would be finished in three weeks. Amid calls for his resignation over the failure of the hostage negotiation, Robredo insisted he wont’ resign unless the investigation proves that he made errors in dealing with the crisis. The Philippine National Police, which was involved in the botched rescue of the hostages last week, is an attached agency of the DILG. A dismissed senior police inspector, Rolando Mendoza, hijacked a bus on August 23 and held hostage 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos. After an 11-hour standoff, Mendoza and eight Hong Kong tourists were killed. Earlier, a House lawmaker urged Robredo and two other Cabinet officials to quit over the hostage fiasco. Robredo, however, said he was the only Cabinet official who rushed to the Quirino Grandstand, the site of the hostage-taking incident, last Monday. He added that he was monitoring the situation while lawmen from the Manila Police District dealt with the hostage crisis. Robredo also brushed off Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman's request that the DILG chief inhibit himself from the case because he was among those being blamed for the failure of the negotiations. He said it was President Benigno Simeon Aquino III's decision to include him in the investigative committee, adding: "Whatever findings naman po ay dadaan sa National Police Commission. Ang prosecutorial ay sa DOJ, at ang administrative ay sa DILG." Aside from being the DILG chief, Robredo is also the chairman of the National Police Commission, the agency tasked to investigate allegations on erring members of the police force.— LBG/VVP, GMANews.TV